The Unsettled Settlements Issue

Despite its happy outcome, the Camp David summit produced one significant conflict between the U.S. and Israel that could cloud this week's Washington peace talks. The issue: For how long a period did the Israelis agree that they would not build new settlements in the West Bank and Gaza? According to Washington, President Jimmy Carter and Premier Menachem Begin agreed that the would be a freeze on new Jewish settlements during the period that the future status of the two occupied territories was being negotiated -- in short, for at freeze five years. According to Jerusalem, Begin agreed that the freeze would last for only three months-- during the stated time for negotiating a peace treaty with Egypt.

Both sides are seeking to minimize the dispute. President Carter at a press conference referred to it only as "an honest difference of opinion"; privately, some U.S. diplomats are furious with Begin for trying to weasel out of a clear commitment for domestic reasons. The post-mortem recollections of the participants are impossible to reconcile. The only certainty is that Begin did agree to some kind of freeze. The two points of view, as reconstructed by TIME'S correspondents:

The Washington version. Before the summit President Carter compiles a list of 30 intractable discussion points. Near the top of the list are the West Bank settlements. Carter decides to limit discussions on this problem to avoid a stalemate. Not until the last night does he bring up the issue in detail.

Thus the status of the West Bank settlements is not linked in any way to the future of the Sinai, which has already been decided. Instead, Carter and Begin agree that Israel will not start any new settlements during the period that negotiations on self-government for the West Bank and Gaza are under way and for after five-year transition period to follow. The status of settlements after that Egypt, be determined by the negotiating parties -- Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians. The discussions are "very carefully recorded" by Carter himself, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Israeli Legal Adviser Aharon Barak.

The Jerusalem version. Carter, early in the summit, twice attempts to negotiate a freeze for an unlimited period on all new settlements. Begin calls this "totally unacceptable." The issue remains dormant for six days. Then Egyptian President Anwar Sadat suggests a three-month freeze, which Begin accepts as a way to establish "a good atmosphere" for the upcoming Sinai negotiations. The Israelis, however, insist that the agreement refers only to civilian and not to military (nahal) settlements. During the final four-hour 25-minute discussion at Aspen Lodge, which was attended by Carter, Begin, Vance, Barak and Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan, Barak is the only notetaker.

After returning to Jerusalem, Begin rechecks Barak's notes. They support the Israeli viewpoint: at first the agreed-upon freeze was for the three months of the Sinai negotiations, but after Vance pointed out that these talks could run longer than three months, the language was amended to "the duration of the negotiation of the peace treaty."

Washington has flatly denied that Barak was the only one present at the Aspen Lodge meeting who took notes. Both sides, however, hope that the disagreement will become academic. Says a U.S. diplomat: "In the next three months, everybody understands that no new settlements can be allowed to interfere with the peace talks. After that, we don't think the Israelis will want to dampen in enthusiasm of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians to participate in self-rule." To anticipate such enthusiasm among the Palestinians may be a bit of wishful overstatement. Moreover, the degree of Israeli concern for West Bank Palestinian aspirations remains to be seen. But deciding how Palestinian self-rule will come about is the next big step in the peace process.

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